money." i'm jim cramer. and i will see you tomorrow. this morning on "early today," the debate that did not disappoint. who came out on top and who stretched the facts? our truth squad weighs in. a cyber pearl harbor. defense secretary panetta says the risk of a devastating cyber attack is all too real. and nobel prizes and chocolate. the curious connection between the prestigious prize and the sweet treat. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. i'm lynn berry. well, joe biden and paul ryan went head to head in their only face-off of the campaign. the two vp candidates clashed on almost every issue, but who won? well, two post debate polls give us very different views. a cnn/orc flash poll found paul ryan four points ahead of joe biden 48 to 44% among likely voters who watched the debate.

but cbs news' flash poll of uncommitted voters gave biden the win with 50% compared to 31% for ryan and 19% called the debate a tie. well, for a look at some of the highlights from last night's debate we go now to nbc's steve handelsman. he is at the debate site in danville, kentucky. steve, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, thanks. good morning from danville, kentucky, where they differed sharply on practically all the big issues, but these are smart, well-informed politicians. paul ryan and joe biden both had reason to feel good about how that came across here last night. a long-time democratic insider versus a republican young gun whose ticket has new momentum. mitt romney was watching. barack obama too. moderator martha raddatz of abc. they tangled on iran. >> we're moving faster toward a nuclear weapon. it's because this administration has no credibility on this

issue. >> we will not allow the iranians to get a nuclear weapon. you're going to go to war, is that what you want to do now? >> we want to prevent war. >> reporter: on the middle class what about mitt romney saying 47% of americans feel entitled to government benefits? >> i think the vice president very well knows that sometimes the words don't come out of your mouth the right way. >> but i always say what i mean. >> reporter: what about the obama stimulus, the recovery? >> job growth in september was slower than it was in august and august was slower than it was in july. we're heading in the wrong direction. >> 5.2 million new jobs -- private sector jobs. >> was it a good idea to spend taxpayer dollars on electric cars in finland or on windmills in china? >> this was exactly what we needed to stop us from going off the cliff. >> reporter: can a middle class tax hike be prevented if the wealthy get a tax cut? >> it's not mathematically possible. >> it is mathematically possible.

it's been done before. it's precisely what we're proposing. >> it has never been done before. >> reporter: on the style side, biden smiled a lot. ryan, a debate rookie, kept his cool. so did ryan add to the romney momentum or did biden help put the obama campaign back on track? now the pollsters go to work to try to figure that out while voters digest the second of four debates. in danville, kentucky, i'm steve handlesmen, nbc news, lynn, back to you. steve, thanks so much. president obama and mitt romney will have their second debate at hofstra university. well, nbc's andrea mitchell led our truth squad in danville last night with a fact check of the debate. she started with the deadly september 11th attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi and paul ryan accusing the obama administration of not properly protecting u.s. personnel. >> what we should not be doing is rejecting claims for calls

for more security in our barracks, in our marine. we need marines in benghazi when the commander on the ground says we need more forces for security. there were requests for extra security. those requests were not honored. >> reporter: vice president biden called the deaths a tragedy but he then claimed that the obama administration did not know that ambassador stevens and other personnel on the ground had been asking for more security help. >> we weren't told they wanted more security there. we did not know they wanted more security. and, by the way, at the time we were told exactly -- we said exactly what the intelligence community told us that they knew. that was the assessment. >> reporter: it was an assessment, but the state department did know in real time from videos that requests for more security and resources had been made and were turned down. a state department official acknowledged testifying on capitol hill only yesterday. there was also a sharp disagreement tonight on medicare. biden charged that ryan's original plan would raise out-of-pocket costs for most seniors.

>> look, folks, use your common sense. who do you trust on this, a man who introduced a bill that would raise it 40 to $6400 a year knowing it and passing it and romney saying sign it or me and the president? >> reporter: ryan objected. >> that statistic was completely misleading, but more importantly -- >> those are you the facts. >> -- this is what politicians do when they don't have a record to run on, try to scare people from voting for you. >> reporter: in fact, on this, biden is right. the congressional budget office said that ryan's first budget plan would force most future seniors to pay increased costs out of pocket that amount or more. whether a revised plan would cost more is still uncertain. that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. all right. here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. we're going to begin with a frightening collision that almost killed three people. a new york city ambulance was

responding to a call when an suv barreled into it. the impact was so powerful that it caused the ambulance to topple over. the suv driver and two paramedics suffered severe neck injuries. all are expected to survive. you won't believe what washed up on one florida beach, a giant eyeball that turned up on shores and over to florida wildlife officials. it has marine biologists completely stumped. some are speculating it could have belonged to a giant squid or octopus. all agree on one thing. it's blue and it's big. that's an understatement. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. >> i don't want to meet the creature that was missing the eye. angry. good morning everyone. the wet season has begun in the west. we had the rain yesterday in los angeles and areas in vegas and even san diego. now that storm system is beginning to push into arizona.

numerous areas of rain, even thunderstorms in arizona overnight. phoenix is looking okay. over toward flagstaff, numerous areas of rain. if you're doing that beautiful drive, you will hit some wet weather. a few thunderstorms popping up on the border of nevada and arizona. that's the storm system we've been tracking all week lodge. it's going to be a big storm in the middle of the country. we're watching for the first time a front approaching the northwest. this is a weak one compared to the two or three you'll see over the next couple days. this is the first measurable rain in many areas. you can see the green in the radar is all rain. we're not watching snow levels that will be trouble with this storm system. over the next couple days, snow levels will come down a little bit, especially as we come into monday. this is the one we're dealing with now. the next batch of moisture on saturday and another on sunday. it's one after another here as we begin the wet and rainy season. of course, temperatures are awful low, to off with the

clouds. looks like the on-and-off rain will continue right through your weekend. if you're sick on the sunshine, you now have your clouds and rain. >> and call us because we just don't know who gets sick of sunshine. bill, thanks. the pearl harbor of cyber attacks, the biggest diamond in the universe and some famous california tax cheats. early morning headlines straight ahead. walmart is taking health care to a whole new level with major announcement. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." stories making news this morning.

the nobel peace prize will be awarded to the european union for six decades of contribution toward the achievement of peace, democracy and human rights in europe. defense secretary leon panetta warns the u.s. is becoming increasingly vulnerable to foreign cyber attacks that could dismantle the nation's power grid, transportation system and financial networks. last night he painted a dire picture. >> the collective result of these kinds of attacks could be a cyber pearl harbor. an attack that would cause physical destruction and the loss of life. the lebanese militant group hezbollah is claiming ownership of an iran-designed drone that was shot down 35 miles into israel last weekend calling it an unprecedented achievement. political mixed message. a search on google images with the phrases "completely wrong" brings up lots of mitt romney

photos. google says there is no partisan politics here. romney used the phrase last week about his 47% comment. that's why. and scientists say they've discovered a planet twice the size of earth that's largely made by diamonds. it encircles a nearby star every 18 hours. well, one of the stories trending on nbcnews.com has to do with past winners of the nobel prize. a new study found correlation between eating chocolate and nobel winners. i like the sound of that. countries whose population consumed more chocolate also took home more of the prize. switzerland came in first while china and brazil were at the bottom. well, now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,326 after falling 18 points yesterday. the s&p was up a fraction but the nasdaq lost 2. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei dipped 12 points but in hong kong the hang seng gained 137. a worrying trend has emerged on wall street. u.s. companies with foreign

earnings exposure. after the bell thursday chip maker advanced micro devices followed a number of companies to warn this week that global economic weakness is taking a toll on their bottom line. stocks lacked direction thursday as investors mostly shrugged off good and bad news including fewer weekly jobless claims and a ratings cut for spain. a few stocks jumped after reports of potential new owners. sprint nextel soared after a report it could be bought by japanese cell phone provider softbank. and defense truck maker oshkosh shot up on news activist investor carl icon offering to buy the company for almost $3 billion. elsewhere, big changes to walmart's employee health care plan. starting next year the mega chain will offer u.s. employees and their families free heart, spine, and transplant surgeries at six major health centers including the mayo and cleveland clinics. the reason, walmart believes paying more to get the job done right the first time saves on costly complications.

well, it's going to cost another penny to mail a letter next year. the cash strapped u.s. postal service will raise rates on january 27th to help offset a record $15 billion in losses this year. that means if you stocked up on those forever stamps back in 2007 when they debuted for 41 cents, you're now saving a nickel apiece. not bad. and finally, do you get a warm, fuzzy feeling when you see that thumbs up sign next to your facebook post? come on, we all do, right? well, some creative students at m.i.t. have taken that a step further designing a vest that inflates to give you a hug when someone likes your facebook status. so sweet. well, coming up, the a's are sent packing, a late field goal makes the difference in the steelers/titans game, plus san francisco slams into the nlcs. your sports headlines are straight ahead. your weekend forecast is going to be full of strong thunderstorms. those details are coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. in sports we're going to begin in oakland where tigers reining cy young award winner and mvp justin verlander struck out 11 in a four-hitter for a 6-0 victory over the athletics advancing detroit back to the a.l. conference series. got some good celebration there.

and now to cincinnati where san francisco's buster posey hit a grand slam in a six-run fifth inning. this helped seal a three-game comeback for the giants sending them to the nlcs. to new york now where the orioles j.j. hardy hit an rbi double in the 13th. baltimore held on to win it 2-1 and force game five against the yanks. in washington, the nationals' jayson werth weathered a 13-pitch at-bat that ended with a season saving walkoff homer putting the nats up 2-1 over the cards forcing game five. on thursday night football, the titans rallied in the fourth quarter starting with a five yard touchdown pass from matt hasselbeck to kenny britt tying the game at 23-23. later, rob bironas kicked his fourth field goal of the night. a 40 yarder as time expired for a 26-23 titan victory over the steelers. and finally, michael vick, who served 18 months in federal prison on dog fighting charges, confirmed that he now has a dog.

vick was banned from owning a dog until after completing a probation period. after first expressing his desire to own one it set off a firestorm from animal rights activists and fans who thought the star should never be allowed to have a dog. in a statement vick said, quote, our pet is well cared for and a loving member of our family. >> announcer: early today sports is brought to you by new just for men autostop. gray is over. just ahead, a roundup of what's new at the box office this weekend and which celebrities are on california's naughty list, plus it's tea time as former nba bad boy dennis rodman shows off his softer side. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to early today. rainy season begins today in the northwest, a little later than normal. we are seeing the first front going through with showers. not a lot of heavy precipitation. still showers and storms in many areas of arizona and utah. as we go through the weekend, we get improving weather in the desert southwest in california. it looks like especially saturday afternoon and evening right through sunday. if you're watching us in sacramento, california, in nearby mcclellan, jump into a cockpit simulator and feel the rush of flying an f16. this i'd like to do, and other fighter jets at the siper zone at the aerospace museum. i need some "top gun" music.

i have need for speed. >> yes, you do, iceman. well now for some entertainment news. the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, ben affleck directs and stars in "argo," a drama about the 1979 iran hostage crisis. it's expected to take in around $20 million. the family comedy "here comes the boom" stars kevin james as a teacher who takes up mixed martial arts. it's tracking in the 10 to $15 million range. also in that range, the supernatural horror pick, "sinister" starring ethan hawke. and now here's a list that you don't want to end up on. california's tax board says singer dionne warwick and actor steven seagal are among the top 500 people and businesses owing the most unpaid state taxes. the agency says warwick owes california $2.6 million while seagal owes nearly $350,000. >> a couple more songs coming out. and finally, talent must run in the family. according to ancestry.com justin bieber is a distant cousin to my

guy, ryan gosling and celine dion. according to the site their family link dates back to some 400 years to quebec's earliest settlers. and this comes to us from wtvj nbc 6 in miami where former nba bad boy dennis rodman composed himself long enough for a special group of tea. the retired all-star no longer dresses in drag but did show he could relate to the ladies, still. rodman was a special guest at a tea party hosted by a nonprofit at a new american girls store. he answered questions and then advised the girls to keep failure out of their lives. good advice. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in egypt one of the world's seven wonders has received a makeover. the question is, will people visit? the country's second largest pyramid reopened after nearly three years of restorations. several tombs were also unveiled with new ventilation systems and lighting for after dark visits. well, with turmoil in the region, egypt's tourism industry hopes to show the country is a safe travel destination. a czech painter had no interest in keeping his head above water during his latest project, and that's because this scuba diving artist was looking to sketch underwater. he managed ten caricatures in four minutes, a fete earning him a world record. and while he already holds the record for fastest caricaturist, he said it wasn't as easy as it looks. no word yet on whether his next attempt includes sky diving. a little one upper there. and finally, the longhorn state of texas is looking to live up to their name.

a cattle contest brings steers and cows from across the country to determine how they measure up. the longest horns will be named over the next few days with some records hopefully being broken. organizers say the biggest concern is getting smacked in the face which they equate to a baseball bat hitting you. ouch. >> there's a good reason everyone at the university of texas they always say hook 'em horns. >> yes. apparently that's a real thing. and apparently it's happened to someone if they can describe it so vividly. well, it's time for now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. revolutionary youth in egypt have called for a million man protest to mark president mohamed morsi's 100 days in office. critics are frustrated with the pace of reform under his leadership since he took office in june as the first elected successor to hosni mubarak. the space shuttle "endeavour" begins its two-day 12-mile journey from lax to the california science museum. city officials had to cut down

10,000 trees along the route in order to make room for "endeavour's" 78 foot wing span. and happy birthday to actor hugh jackman. he turns 44 today. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. donald trump reveals the cast of this season's "celebrity apprentice" and gives his take on last night's debates. and a live look at dazzling diamonds on the set this morning, including an extremely rare 76 carat stone. and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com